Air force academy nomination question

I was speaking to USAFA counselors (a Captain and a second Lieutenant that recently graduated) that visited my school in New York City. I asked them about nominations, and particularly, “If ten people in my district get nominated by our congressional representative, do only one of us get the appointment or is there a possibility that multiple people from our district can go?” And the response from the Captain was that “there are only roughly 500 congressional representatives, some of them with two slots to fill so 600 approximately. So if you get a nomination but you see somebody that also got nominated in your district get an appointment, do not worry.”

Is he true? There are about 1300 ish offers made every year and only so many congressional sources.

It is possible for two or three or even more qualified and nominated candidates from your district to receive offer of appointment. Just because someone has a MOC nomination from a district doesn’t mean their appointment will be charged to that district/MOC. For example, they may also have a presidential nomination. Or they may have a senatorial nomination (if MOCs in that state don’t coordinate). This is a chess game for SAs — they get the people they want by moving pieces (nominations) around as much as possible, practical and legal.

It is possible for two or three or even more qualified and nominated candidates from your district to receive offer of appointment. Just because someone has a MOC nomination from a district doesn’t mean their appointment will be charged to that district/MOC. For example, they may also have a presidential nomination. Or they may have a senatorial nomination (if MOCs in that state don’t coordinate). This is a chess game for SAs — they get the people they want by moving pieces (nominations) around as much as possible, practical and legal.

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Yes but my question was about if we all had the same nomination under a district - there are clearly more offers of appointment (1400-1500) made compared to slots offered by congress, president, vp (from my research, ~700-800). Is there an explanation for this? Are there any other nominations other than the aforementioned categories that I might not be able to directly apply to?

Some basic research would show you that nominations are also available for children of deceased or disabled veterans; children of military or civilian personnel in missing status; children of Medal of Honor recipients; regular and reserve components; honor military schools and JROTC; U.S territories and foreign countries; the superintendeb’s discretionary bucket. All these sources are listed in each SA’s website. Amazing tool, the Interweb.

What MidCake said. I suggest you read through the stickies in the Nominations forum. Do a little homework for goodness sake.

Also 150 (I think) MUST, by law, be selected from the National Waiting List. Many of these may have had a Congressional nomination, and perhaps only a Congressional nomination... but they are not charged against the Congressman.